good evening.... I have a question... Tonight, I listed all the foods I ate today, and according to Fitday, I ingested 2151 calories and 16 grms of net carbs. I hear people mentioning 1400-1600 calories a day, but somehow i went over it... Am i screwing myself, or am I doing ok?
Any comments would be appreciated.

Speaking just as a member, it more depends on what kind of calories they were. The proportions should be about 65% fat, 30% protein and 5 % carbohydrates.

Atkins always said that calories weren't important during Induction. It was more important to get into ketosis. Eventually I think they have to be noticed but not kept low.

You'll find lots of references here to eating 10-12 times your weight in calories. But people differ on whether it's times your current weight or your target weight.

The important thing is not to let your calories go below 1200 per day no matter what. And keep the carbs to at least 20, mostly from vegetables and salad. Then start raising them each week. The body can adjust to a low carb level if you stay on Induction or below, and then you have nowhere to go if you should stall.

Atkins had 30 years of experience with patients that told him that "lower than Induction" levels of carbs didn't help with faster or greater weight loss.

Hope this helps. I don't think that many calories is bad.

I, too, am just a member, but have a bit of information to pass on.

Fitday will give you a table of the calories you burned today. Click on the Activities tab on the lefthand side. In the center is a table of calories burned for the specified period. Unless you enter every single activity you perform, the table will be a rough estimate -- but good enough to give you some insight into how your body uses the calories you ingest.

Basal refers to the calories needed to keep your body alive even if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing.

Lifestyle refers to the level of activity you specified when you registered. If you sit behind a desk all day this will be a smaller value than if you swung a sledge hammer for eight hours a day.

Activities are the activities you did and entered just like foods eaten.

As long as you keep your calorie intake below what Fitday has calculated as your total calories burned for the day, how can you not lose weight over time?

There are other neat little helpers in Fitday. Go have fun, explore and play around with it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Personally I think a really high cal day wakes up the body. Going back to your normal levels then gets things going again.

I'll have days wher eI am starving and just can't eat enough. On those days my calories will get alot higher, but after I always seem to go down a pound or so. I think it's just the body's way of making sure it's ok to release that stored fat, and that you will be providing it with enough energy.

As for what other people mention, ignore it. That is what works best for thier body. You need to learn what your body works best at. Keep the calories high enough your metabolism doesn't slow and you have energy loss. I know if I get around 1200 or below for a couple days, my weight loss completely stops.

I'm with LadyBelle. I'll have a day when I'm really hungry, so I eat, but the next few days I'm not eating much. I think it's because my body and my mind are finally talking on a static free line.
Personally I didn't worry about calories except about going too low. That's when your body hangs onto every fat cell.

Thanks everyone for timely responses... It was nagging me, and I certainly appeciate the information.... You gals are a wealth of information... Thank you.
Lynne

you could try www.mybodycomp.com too. it gives you a pretty accurate BF% and tells you your basal cals burned activites cal burned ect. plus it's free!

I have nothing more to add, except to comment on Silverfang's comment in her signature line about not trusting a skinny cook.

I'd like to add " . . . except if he/she is a low-carber!"